You've Been Acting Weird
by meiviis
Summary: There's something that Maka isn't telling Soul, and he's determined to find out what it is. Meanwhile, Black Star's so busy with going on dates that he has no time for Tsubaki.
1. Chapter 1

So this is my first fic!  
To be honest, I'm really nervous about posting it o uo  
I have an idea of how I want this story to go, but suggestions, pointers, criticism and feedback are always welcome!  
As a new writer here, I'm ready to take notes from you all huehue~  
Thank you very much for taking the time to read this, and I hope that you enjoy~

* * *

"This is so uncool..." Soul muttered as he walked behind Maka, his hands in his pockets. He slouched and dragged his feet, clearly unhappy to be shoe-shopping with his Meister. He wasn't particularly happy that she was going on a date, either. And with Black Star of all people!

Soul glanced at Maka, who had been busy inspecting a pair of black boots. Her gaze was distant, as if her mind was elsewhere.

"Maka?" The white-haired boy pulled a face when she didn't answer. It took him a couple more tries before he finally got a response out of her.

"Hm? Oh, sorry," the girl mumbled, not looking at her partner. She went ahead, stopping by a pair of pink flats, leaving the Weapon with a puzzled expression on his face.

_What's up with her?_ he wondered. He waved the thought away, then easily made his way to Maka's side. "See anything that you like so far?" he asked her. Again, she didn't answer, prompting Soul to look at her. He saw a hint of what he thought was nervousness, and a chuckle escaped his lips before he could stop himself.

Maka whipped her head around at the sound of Soul's laughter. She furrowed her brow, but said nothing.

"Maka, is something wrong?" her companion asked. "Look. You and I both know Black Star. I highly doubt that he would even bother to glance at your shoes. So you don't have to be nervous, okay?" He fought back the urge to cup his hands around her face. Why was he reassuring her anyway? It's not like he wanted Black Star and Maka to actually be a couple. Of course, he was too cool to admit to anyone that he had fallen for a girl with a flat chest.

After a moment, Maka nodded, but her expression was the same. "You're right. Let's go home." She walked in front of him as they left. Soul caught her scent as they exited the store. God, he could live off of that smell.

* * *

When they got home, Maka headed straight for her room.

"Hey, aren't you going to eat anything?" Soul asked as he knocked on her door.

"... Not hungry," the ash-blonde said into her pillow.

"What?"

"I said, I'm not hungry."

Without bothering to tell her that he was coming in, Soul opened the door just enough for him to slip inside. "Maka, if you don't want to cook, I can just go buy a pizza," he said, casually leaning on her wall.

She didn't answer. "You've been acting weird recently." Soul noted, pushing himself off of the wall. He made his way over to her bed, taking a seat beside her lying figure. He lifted his hand, aching to touch her. He wanted to know what was on her mind and he wanted to be able to comfort her. He placed his hand on her shoulder. The two of them stayed there in silence, minutes passing by. Soul was trying to figure out exactly what to say to her. There were so many things that he wanted her to know, but he didn't know how to word them without becoming a stuttering fool. Just as he opened his mouth to say something, a grumbling noise filled the room. "Pfft." Soul found himself patting her hair before he got to his feet. "You're clearly not feeling well today, so you just rest, okay? I'll go buy a pizza."

As he left the house, Blair, in her cat form, curiously poked her head into Maka's room just as the girl finished dialing a number into the phone.

"Oh! ... Tsubaki, is Black Star there?" Her tone had hints of hesitation, which the cat was quick to pick up on.

Blair left the room before she could hear any more, giving Maka privacy and space. Well, of course, as a cat with good hearing, she could still hear everything that Maka was saying, but she felt better knowing that she wasn't purposely eavesdropping.

"Okay Black Star. I don't think that I can keep this a secret anymore. I've been dying to tell someone, and Soul knows that something's up." After a slight pause, she continued. "Can I at least tell _him_? Black Star... He's your best friend and my Weapon." Another pause, as she listened to his reply. "Look. He's bound to find out anyway. I don't think that he'd tell anyone..."

Maka sighed. The conversation had ended with Black Star telling her that she absolutely couldn't tell anyone and then hanging up. _He's hopeless. _she thought, wanting to laugh. "It's not like anyone would judge him for it..." she mumbled, just as the front door opened. The smell of pizza wafted through the house, once again making the young girl's stomach growl.

She got off of her bed, then wandered to the living room, where Soul was placing the pizza on the table. He grinned at her. "Feeling better already, I see. Don't worry, pizza always does the trick."

Maka nodded, gratefully taking the slice that he had just put on a plate.


	2. Chapter 2

This chapter is mostly dedicated to Tsubaki and Black Star ^^  
I tried to put in humor with Maka's Maka Chops, but I don't really know how that worked out  
I just got really excited about writing this, and I got so many ideas...  
So I wanted to put up a new chapter as soon as possible!  
Again, pointers and criticism are always welcome~  
Thank you for taking the time to read!

* * *

"Black Star!" Tsubaki called as she opened the door. "Maka's here!"

With an apologetic expression on her face, Tsubaki invited the other girl in. "Would you like something to drink?" she asked. When Maka shook her head, no, Tsubaki nodded. "Alright. I'll just go get Black Star then... I'm really sorry about him. He should have been the one to go pick you up!" Tsubaki exclaimed, the disbelief evident on her face.

"It's fine, Tsubaki!" Maka smiled. "I didn't mind walking here. It's quite nice out today anyways." She sat on the couch as Tsubaki wandered elsewhere in the house, presumably to Black Star's room.

As she was knocking on the door, Tsubaki could faintly hear Black Star counting. "... 592, 593, 594..."

The young woman burst in the room. "Black Star, just what do you think you're doing?"

"Oh, hey Tsubaki," the boy grinned back in response. "I'm just training."

"I can see that, but do you really think that this is the best time to do that? Maka's just in the other room..." She studied his puzzled expression. "Oh, for goodness' sake, Black Star! You have a date today!"

The blue-haired boy brought himself to a sitting position. "Right! I knew that! A big star like me would ne-"

"Um, Tsubaki... Could I have a moment with Black Star, please?" Maka was standing at the door of the room, desperately fighting back the urge to Maka Chop the boy.

"Oh... Sure. Not a problem, Maka," Tsubaki smiled cheerfully, closing the door as she exited the room. "I just can't believe that Black Star forgot that he had a date today..." she muttered under her breath.

She went on about her regular schedule, passing by the closed door every so often. She could hear muffled voices, and if she wasn't mistaken, she thought that she had heard her own name mentioned in there a couple of times. The only thing that she heard clearly was "MAKA CHOP!" and she assumed that Black Star had done something deserving.

Tsubaki was sipping her tea when the couple finally came out of the room, Maka practically dragging Black Star. "We'll be off now, Tsubaki!" the girl said with a tight smile.

Black Star quickly waved to his partner. "Seeya later!"

Once they were out the door, Tsubaki burst into a fit of giggles. They looked so odd together. _They're such an unlikely couple..._ she thought, watching them through the window. Even now, she could hear then arguing through the open window.

"Black Star, we're going to go to the library,"

"The _library?_ Maka, you can't be serious! We should go to th-"

"No!" In a hushed voice, she said something else that Tsubaki couldn't hear. The girl met eyes with Tsubaki for half a second, then said something else. She saw Black Star nod.

"Alright, I guess we'll go to the library..."

Tsubaki turned around, taken aback. Had she just witnessed Maka changing Black Star's mind? Has she actually changed his mind to go to the _library?_ This was amazing. This was-

"I bet that all those bookworms would love to get their books signed by a big star like me! Ha ha ha!"

Oh.

"MAKA CHOP!"

* * *

"How was your date, Black Star? Did you take out any books?"

"Date? ... Oh, right! That was a date! ... It was great! I signed a bunch of books, and this old lady kept nagging at me, so I signed all of the books that were on her desk..." His face scrunched up as he tried to recall what else happened. "Oh, and after that, we went to the park and bumped into Kid... And we all had ice cream... Patty and I played tricks on them... I bet that they were honored to have a big star like me play tricks on them!" he ended, laughing.

"Sounds like you had fun!" Tsubaki replied, a gentle smile on her face.

"How about you, Tsubaki? What did you do today?"

"Me?" she asked, caught a bit off-guard. Black Star hardly ever asked her about her day. "W-well... Just the same old stuff that I always do!" she chirped brightly. "Not much excitement to my day," she laughed.

There was a short silence in the room, which was broken when Tsubaki quickly got up. Black Star had been staring at her very intently, and it was starting to make her nervous. "Have you eaten yet? I'll go prepare something..."

"Say, Tsubaki... Do you think that I'd be a good boyfriend?"

"W-what?" she asked, almost dropping the pot that she was taking out of the cupboard. She thought for a moment, placing the pot on the stove. "Well, of course! You're caring, and you can always cheer someone up when they're feeling down... Why? Did Maka say something?" she asked suddenly, seeing Black Star's more serious expression.

"No. No reason. It's fine, Tsubaki. You don't have to make anything for me. I'm not hungry."

"Oh. Well... Alright," she said, watching with a concerned look on her face as he left the room.

As she waited for the water to boil, she hovered outside her Meister's room. She could hear him counting again. "... 57, 58, 59, 60..." As she took a peek into his room, she could see that he was hard at work on doing push-ups.

_I hope that he's alright..._ she thought to herself, heading back to the pot of boiling water.


	3. Chapter 3

So it came to my attention that I forgot to take something out at the end of the last chapter.  
It's fixed now though.. orz  
Sorry if that caused some confusion ughh  
That's so embarrassing...  
Anyways! I'm in quite a good mood for writing today, so here's another chapter!  
Thanks for reading~

* * *

"Hi Maka!" Blair piped as the younger girl walked in. "Soul's out right now."

Maka nodded, heading for her room, when Blair stopped her. "Wait a second. Maka... You wouldn't happen to be... Oh, I don't know. Pregnant?"

Maka froze. "What?! Blair, of course I'm not! Why the hell would you even think that?"

"Oh, good! I knew you wouldn't be..." the older girl said, discreetly looking at Maka's chest. "Okay. Why don't you sit down," she said, patting the couch next to her.

"Blair, I really don't understand why you would even think that."

"Oh, just calm down. I was just wondering, because the other day, I heard you talking on the phone with Black Star. You said something about wanting to tell Soul something. I told your papa about it, and-"

"You did what?!"

"Maka! Take a chill pill! It's fine," she said, patting the younger girl's head. "Anyways. I told your papa... By the way, I also told him that Black Star was taking you out on a date today. But he started freaking out, like 'what does this Black Star guy want to keep a secret about so badly that Maka can't even tell Soul?' and I told him that I didn't know. So he told me to ask you about... yeah," she trailed off, her gaze empathetic.

"I can't believe this." Maka muttered, burying her face into her hands. "This is so embarrassing."

Blair patted her gently on the back. "So... Are you going to tell me that little secret that you guys have? I promise that I won't tell anyone! Except your papa, of course."

"You promise?" Maka said quietly, peeking up at the cat. "Okay, well here's the thing. And you absolutely, _absolutely_ can not tell any of my friends. Okay?" the girl sat upright, taking in a big breath.

Blair was hanging on her every word, listening intently to this new information that she had acquired. When she had finished, Blair gave a little laugh, then asked. "But Maka, why are you doing this? What do you get out of all of this?"

The ash-blonde shrugged, simply stating, "I just want them to be happy." Blair nodded, but said nothing else.

Just as the cat thought of something to say, the front door opened and Soul's voice called out, "Hey, I'm home!"

Blair got up, adjusted her dress, then stretched. "Well, I'd love to stay and chat some more, but I think it's about time that I head to work! See you guys later!" she chimed, squeezing past Soul to get out the door.

The boy smiled at Maka before heading to his room. She smiled back, not really taking in the fact that he was sweaty and out of breath. She stood up, then followed him. The door was closed, but Maka pushed it open anyways.

"Hey, where were you?" she asked, before seeing his shirtless figure.

"What the- Maka?" He was startled, but didn't think much of it. She had seen him shirtless before, so it didn't really matter to either of them. He was just about to answer her question when he saw her eyes tracing the scar on his torso. He knew that she still blamed herself for what happened, so he tried to quickly get her attention away from it.

"Oh, I was just shooting some hoops. How was the date?" he asked, pulling on a t-shirt.

"Ugh, don't ask," she groaned, plopping onto Soul's bed.

Soul laughed, then sat next to her. "Oh, come on. It couldn't have been _that_ bad."

"Oh, but it was. We went to the library, and he started signing all the books! The librarian was making a huge fuss, and you know what he does? That big dummy goes to sign all the books on her desk!" She brought her hand to her face, mumbling something that Soul didn't quite catch. "I'll be surprised if he's not banned from the library," she snorted. Soul wasn't saying anything, but she had felt the bed shift when he lied down. She turned her head to see that he had his back turned to her. "Are you sleeping?" she asked, poking his back.

"N-no..." he said, gasping for air. "It's just... What were you expecting, bringing _Black Star_ to a _library?_" he laughed. "Those words don't even sound right, being in the same sentence. What kind of date was it anyways, going in a library? A study date?"

"It was supposed to be a quiet date," she retorted quickly. "So we could get to know each other better."

"Maka, you already know Black Star. I don't think that that was necessary."

"Well... Look, I just asked Liz what people do on first dates, and she said that they have to get to know each other."

"Pfft. Did Liz happen to know that you were talking about yourself and Black Star?"

"No, but-"

"Next time, just ask me. A cool guy like me knows all about dating," he said haughtily, cutting her off. As soon as the words left his mouth, he wanted to punch himself. _Dammit Soul. Just what do you think you're doing?_

"Oh really... Where do you propose that our next date be then?"

"Well..." Soul thought about it. "You picked the place this time, right? You should go where he wants to go next time."

"Is that so? Well, alright," she said, getting up from the bed. "Well, I'm going to go read now. I got a bunch of books from the library, and I want to finish them before the week is over."

She took a pause by the door, then turned around. "Oh, and Soul?"

"Yeah?"

"You should take a shower. You smell like sweat," she said teasingly, scrunching her nose.

"Right. Will do," he grinned, standing up.


	4. Chapter 4

Just a short chapter for now, but hopefully it'll suffice!  
School started today, and I wrote this chapter last night u wu  
I don't have much homework though, so hopefully, I'll be able to get another chapter up!  
Thanks so much for reading! ^^

* * *

A few days later, Soul was in the living room playing video games when Blair walked in. Maka had gone back to the library earlier that morning to return her books.

Seeing as they were finally alone together, Soul paused his game.

"So did you ever find out what Maka's been hiding?" he asked the older woman, turning around to face her.

The cat hesitated, then nodded. In her head, the thoughts were running wild. _But Maka made me promise not to tell anyone! Oh, but Soul was the one that really wanted to know anyways..._

"Well what did she say?" he inquired, breaking her thoughts.

"Oh. Well, she told me not to tell anyone... But she found out that Black Star was cheating on her!" she blurted. Technically, it wasn't a lie, but still. It wasn't the truth either. She gave a nervous smile at Soul.

"He... what?" Soul's face had gotten all serious, and his tone was grave. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. His best friend was cheating on his Meister. He stood up, anger welling inside of him.

Blair, realizing just how angry Soul was getting, gave a nervous laugh. "... You can't bring it up with anyone! I told Maka that I wouldn't tell anyone, so you can't bring it up at all," she nodded to herself. At least that part was true. "Just... sit down," she said hesitantly. "I'll make pumpkin pie!~" she chimed, trying to lighten the mood.

Obediently, Soul sat back down to face his video game. "I just don't understand," he grumbled. "She was fine for the past few days, so I thought that maybe... I just wish that she would tell me this stuff. Doesn't she trust me?" he asked, speaking to no one in particular.

Blair offered a response, which Soul wasn't too interested in. Instead, he tried to immerse himself into his game. He died several times, all at the same place, but he wasn't as bothered by it as he would have normally been.

He hadn't eaten very much pie, and he regretted it a bit, now that he was trying to fall asleep. His stomach kept grumbling, and he couldn't ignore it anymore. Reluctantly, he climbed out of his bed and tried to get to the kitchen as stealthily as possible. He didn't want to wake either of the girls. Especially Maka. He figured that she was going through a tough time, and they also had a test tomorrow morning, so she needed as much rest as she could get.

He opened the refrigerator and located what was left of Blair's pumpkin pie. He pulled it out gingerly, careful not to make too much noise. He cut himself a slice, putting it on a plate. After he put the pie away, he gratefully took a bite of his slice. It was delicious. He cut himself another slice, retreating into his room.

Once his mind had been cleared of delusions of food, he started to think seriously about Maka's problem. He knew that Black Star could be a bit full of himself, but he just couldn't see his friend being the type to cheat in a relationship. Sure, maybe Maka wasn't really Black Star's ideal type, but she didn't deserve to be deceived. No one deserved that.

The more he thought about it, the more he couldn't make sense of it all. Maka didn't _seem_ like a girl who just found out that her boyfriend was cheating on her... And he had seen Black Star just yesterday. Surely, he would have said something to Soul if he really was cheating on her.

He sighed, turning in his bed. He thought about what Blair had said. That hadn't made much sense either, now that he thought about it. In fact, it didn't make any sense at all.

When Soul had asked Blair to ask Maka what was up, the couple hadn't even gone on their first date yet. And he knew for a fact that Blair had asked right after Maka came home from that first date. Black Star couldn't have been cheating on her. The timeline didn't make that possible. People can't cheat on people before the relationship even starts. Strangely, instead of being angry at Blair for lying to him, he felt himself relax. He felt relieved. He had peace of mind, knowing that Black Star was still an okay guy, and that no one had hurt Maka.

So why couldn't he fall asleep?


	5. Chapter 5

I managed to finish another chapter tonight!~  
Also, I know that this might be more than a little late, but I apologize for any OOC-ness...  
Especially in this chapter, with Tsubaki and Black Star orz  
Anyways, I might not update tomorrow, since I have badminton practice.  
I'll try to get something up, but no promises!  
Thanks for reading~

* * *

"Soul! ... Soul! Wake up! We're going to be late for school!" Maka's voice was urgent, but Soul couldn't get up. He had finally fallen asleep a couple of hours ago, and his body wouldn't wake up, even if his mind was alert. He mumbled her name before drifting off again...

"MAKA CHOP!"

Soul's eyes opened immediately as he felt a book collide with his head.

"Geez, Maka..." he said, rubbing his head. He was about to comment on how she said that nearly every morning, but stopped once he took in her appearance.

Her hair was messy, although she had still mangled them into her everyday twintails. Her eyes were tired; the dark bags underneath them were clearly visible. Her clothes were wrinkled, almost as if she had slept in them. Her overall appearance was disheveled. She looked terrible.

He raised his eyebrows at her, but she looked away, a slight blush creeping onto her cheeks.

"Hurry up," she muttered.

He nodded, getting out of bed. He wasn't really hurrying - just going about his daily routine at his regular, laid-back pace. That is, until he saw what time it was. _Five_ minutes before their first class started. His eyes widened as he stared at Maka, as if to say "How could you only wake me up now?"

The girl shrugged in response. It bothered her more than him that they had woken up this late. She tugged at her sleeve, getting frustrated.

As if reading her mind, Soul voiced her thoughts. "I can't believe it. Maka Albarn, a model student, is going to be late. This is a first." He was already done with his morning routine, and was walking past her to get his shoes on at the door. "Come on. If you're going to be late, it'll only be by a few minutes."

Maka nodded, putting on her signature black boots and heading out the door, Soul pulling her by the hand.

* * *

"Black Star, please get up..." Tsubaki kneeled beside Black Star's lying figure. He wasn't asleep, that was for sure. "The professors are going to be upset with you again..."

The boy made no attempt to move or respond to her.

She sighed, adjusting herself so that she was sitting cross-legged beside him. _You've been acting weird..._

"If we're not going to the DWMA today, what should we do?" she asked him. "I could make you something to eat to help you feel better," she suggested thoughtfully. "Or I could just leave you to rest... I'll just be in my room if you need me." She smiled at him when he finally turned over and propped himself up on his elbow.

"Tsubaki, you should go to school. Sure, they'll be upset with me, but I don't want to bring you into that," he said, his face serious.

"Oh." She hesitated, then made a gesture with her hand, saying that it was fine. "I'll just stay here. There's no point in me going without you! I think Miss Marie said something about training outside today..." she laughed. As she turned away again, heading towards the door, Black Star quickly got up and placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Tsubaki." He swallowed, feeling nervous. "I..." he took another pause, unsure of what to say. "I broke up with Maka."

Her eyes grew big. "_What?_" She sucked in a breath. "Why?"

"I... She called me last night. And I broke up with her. She was too clingy," he lied.

"Black Star!" she said, exasperated.

Somehow, he felt as if a burden had been lifted from him. He felt much better now, after revealing to Tsubaki that he was single. He was already starting to return to his normal self. "What? A girl like her could never have lived up to a big star like me!" he exclaimed, a smug look on his face.

The girl gave her partner a weak smile. "Was Maka... okay?" she asked with a small voice.

"What? I dunno..."

Tsubaki gave him a stiff smile. "Well, since you seem better, I think that we should head to school after all. Come on," she said, dragging him out of his room. She wasn't surprised to see that he was already dressed.

As they walked, thoughts were flying through Tsubaki's mind. _How could Black Star be so insensitive?I can't believe that he looks so relaxed, now that they're through! And he doesn't even know how she's coping with this all! Really... How is he ever going to keep a girlfriend? Is this how he's going to act with all of his relationships?_ She glanced at him, and he gave her a huge grin back.

_Is this how he's going to act with me?_

"No," she answered herself. _What? What was that? Why did I think about that?_

"Did you say something, Tsubaki?"

"Umm... No, nothing!" she smiled, walking up the stairs to the DWMA.


	6. Chapter 6

Hello!~  
Sorry for not updating yesterday!  
This chapter is my longest so far (although not by very much) so I hope this'll make up for it...  
ha.. ha...  
Anyways, I hope that this chapter doesn't give everything away.. o uo"`  
Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy!

* * *

Classes had just ended, and Tsubaki was walking out with Maka. The older girl peered at the ash-blonde. She seemed fine, for someone who had just been dumped for "being too clingy."

Well, now that she took a closer look at her friend, she _did_ seem quite disheveled. Her hair was messy and her clothes were wrinkly. But still, she was nowhere near the state that Tsubaki was expecting.

The raven-haired young lady looked over her shoulder to see that the rest of their friends were close behind them. She turned back to the other girl, then in a hushed voice, said, "I'm really sorry about Black Star."

"Oh, no need to apologize. He can be a bit of a pain sometimes, but he's a nice guy," Maka replied, tilting her head to one side. She was a bit confused as to why Tsubaki was apologizing.

Tsubaki looked at her, incredulous. "How can you be so calm about this? How can you call him a _nice guy_? His reason for doing that was so shallow!" She really hated talking bad about her partner, especially behind his back, but she was very supportive of his relationship, so she couldn't just stand and watch as Black Star ruined it all.

"For doing what? Tsubaki, I'm really not following you..." she laughed.

"Maka! He told me earlier this morning that he broke up with you!"

"What?" Her eyes grew as large as dinner plates as she released a slow breath. She stopped walking. In the time it took for Patty to bump into her, Maka had already collected her thoughts. "No he didn't. Are you sure he wasn't just kidding around with you?"

Patty interrupted them before either could say anything else. "We should all hang out today! It's been really boring around here!" she laughed, smacking Black Star's back.

The group continued walking, but Maka and Tsubaki dropped the subject. Neither of them thought that it was a good idea to talk about it while the rest of heir friends were so close to them. Every once in a while, Tsubaki would look over at Maka to see her looking at Black Star. She wondered idly what was going on between them.

Maka realized that her friend had been glancing at her. She made a mental note to explain things to her after she discussed the situation with Black Star. In a way, she could sense that this had been coming, especially after how their phone call had ended last night. Of course, she could always play along with Black Star, but she figured that they had gotten so far in their plan that it would be a waste of time if they pulled out now.

Besides, from the looks of it, their plan was working.

* * *

The group of friends were sitting in Maka and Soul's living room, chatting enthusiastically over some food, prepared by Tsubaki and Maka. Patty had tried helping, but within the first three minutes of her trying to do something, she almost set fire to the curtains. Everyone agreed that it would be best if Patty didn't help out in the kitchen, so Maka told her to get everyone a plate, to which the blonde had happily obliged. Liz said something about having to keep her manicure immaculate, so sadly, she couldn't help out. Crona offered to help as well, but Ragnarok started hitting the androgynous figure, causing them to retreat back to the others, who eventually went out to play some basketball.

And so, Maka and Tsubaki had been alone in the kitchen. The shorter girl didn't dare to bring up the subject again, since she hadn't had the time to ask Black Star what was going on. Fortunately for her, Tsubaki never mentioned it once. She had been really absorbed in making a feast for everyone, and she did exactly that. With Maka's help, she had made so many dishes that they weren't able to finish everything. There was beef stew, chicken curry, fettuccine Alfredo, taco salad, and sweet potato fries, just to name a few.

If she was going to be honest, Tsubaki had only made so much food because she wanted to keep her mind distracted. She didn't want to think about Black Star and Maka's... problem, because she was pretty torn about the situation. She didn't know who was telling the truth - did they break up or not? She didn't even know how she felt about it anymore. Was she upset that they broke up? Or was she happy about it? She kept thinking about the thought that had crossed her mind earlier. "_Is this how he's going to act with me?_" She kept trying to shake the thought from her mind, to no avail.

When the boys and Crona came back from their game, she couldn't help but stare at Black Star. _When did he get so attractive?_ she found herself thinking, watching as sweat rolled down his neck. She chastised herself immediately after. When she turned around, she had been greeted by Maka, who had caught her staring. Heat creeped up to her cheeks as she excused herself, heading to the washroom to freshen up. However, what she didn't see was Maka shooting a mischievous smile at Black Star as Tsubaki passed in front of her.

And so, everyone sat back in their chairs, stomachs bulging and careless burps coming out. Patty droned on about giraffes and how "really super awesome!" they were, while the rest of them nodded and smiled. Once she was done her little spiel, it got noisier in the house, random subjects being brought up. Kid was in the middle of telling everyone how important symmetry was, gesturing wildly with his hands, when Maka stood up. She made her way around to where Black Star was sitting, then tapped him on the shoulder, telling him to come with her. He complained, saying that he was too full to move.

"It's important. About the plan," she said through gritted teeth.

That easily got him up and out of his chair. She led him to the kitchen, where no one else was, and blurted, "What are you doing? Why did you tell Tsubaki that we broke up? Black Star, please don't go ruining the plan. You have to tell her that you were just kidding, okay? But do it discreetly. Wait for an opportunity."

Black Star hardly had time to react to her first and second questions, since she had just kept on going without waiting for any input from him. "Relax, Maka... I said it in a joking way anyways. I smiled at her right after I said it! I also said that a girl like you could never live up to a big star like me! After all, I'll surpass God! Ha ha ha!"

Slowly, she pulled out a book from no where, threatening to whack him on the head with it. "Well she certainly took it very seriously."

"I guess that she must have misinterpreted it then. I'm not about to go and ruin my own plan, Maka."

She girl nodded, then started to go back to join the others. When she was in the doorway, she turned back to Black Star. "So, when should our next date be?" She purposely said it just loud enough that Tsubaki, who was seated the closest to the kitchen, could hear. Without even turning her head, Maka could tell that she had could the young woman's attention.

"Are you free on Friday?"

"Yeah, sounds good."

Out of the corner of her eye, Tsubaki could see Soul looking directly at Maka. When she turned her head to look at him, he was laughing with the others. She could have been imagining it, but she thought that she saw a hint of regret in his eyes.

* * *

As Black Star and Tsubaki were walking home, the latter couldn't help but bring up his relationship with Maka. "So you lied to me. About breaking up with her." She hated the feeling that she got from admitting it out loud. She should have been happy, but something in her chest felt like it was sinking, or that it was being crushed.

The boy snorted in response. "I was joking! I thought that you knew! I smiled at you right after, so... Besides! I won't be able to surpass God if I can't even get a girlfriend!"

"Oh, well, that's good." She spoke with a tone of disappointment that came from nowhere. She bit her lip, trying to keep from saying anything else. If anything else that she said came out in a remotely sad tone, who knows what would happen. She'd probably do something that she would regret for the rest of her life.

This tone of disappointment did not escape the ears of the mighty Black Star. He stopped himself from smiling, as he could feel his Weapon's eyes on him. "Where do you think I should take her on Friday?"

Unconsciously, Tsubaki winced at the question, which Black Star also noticed. "You could take her to a nice restaurant... Or just on a nice picnic," she smiled.

"Would you help me make food for a picnic then?"

She was tempted to say no. In her mind, she was fighting with herself. _Oh, stop being ridiculous. _

"I'd love t-" she coughed, choking on her words. "Sorry. I'd... love to..." She seemed to be struggling with saying the words, which was very uncharacteristic of her. Black Star looked at her with a quizzical expression. She was normally very eager to help others out, which normally ended with people taking advantage of her. He said nothing, as they were nearing their home.


	7. Chapter 7

/laughs awkwardly  
I don't have much to say about this chapter...  
Except that it makes this fic feel like it's going to be angst.  
I swear it's not though! It should take a turn for the better... Soon-ish maybe.  
Anyways, thanks for reading, and I hope that you enjoy!

* * *

This was their fourth date this week. Black Star was hardly ever home, and when he was, he was either sleeping or asking Tsubaki for advice. The way he was acting was slowly straining their relationship as Weapon and Meister, but Tsubaki would never say anything about it. In fact, she always had a pleasant smile on her face whenever Black Star was around.

When he wasn't home, Tsubaki would find herself wandering aimlessly through the house. Today, while she was doing just that, the phone started ringing. When she answered, it was Soul. With a shock, the young woman realized that she wasn't the only being excluded whenever the two Meisters went on dates. He asked her if she'd like to come over, to which she happily said yes. She could tell that he was as bored as she was, so they might as well keep each other company.

Blair opened the door when she arrived.

"Hi Tsubaki!~ Soul's just in the kitchen. I'll see you guys later!" And with that, she was out the door, heading to work at ChupaCabra's.

Tsubaki sat in the living room, waiting for Soul. Truthfully, the two Weapons weren't very close, but recently, Soul had been initiating more conversations with her. Originally, she thought that he was just being thoughtful, seeing as Black Star had been speaking to her less and less, but she now realized that he was in the same situation that he was in.

When Soul emerged from the kitchen, he was holding a basket. A picnic basket. The first thing that Tsubaki noticed, however, were the dark circles underneath his eyes. He looked very tired, and he was. He was up all night trying to prepare food, and then he had to hide it all from Maka.

Tsubaki was about to question him on the picnic basket, but he held up a hand to stop her. "I've had enough of this. I know where they're having their date today, so we're going to spy on them. I know that I may sound crazy, but I have a feeling that they don't actually like each other."

The raven-haired girl was not hesitant one bit when replying, quickly agreeing with the plan. Being an assassin, she was the type that could go unnoticed, and Soul's plan sounded like fun. She had also been getting the feeling that the two Meisters didn't like each other in that way. She had been watching Black Star's expression this one time when Maka had dropped by, and as they were speaking, Tsubaki saw not one ounce of love in his eyes.

* * *

It had been quite a hassle to locate Black Star and Maka. "Who has a picnic in the middle of a forest..." Soul had muttered once the two Weapons had heard the distinct "I'll surpass God!" from Black Star.

"I do suppose that this is rather convenient," Tsubaki whispered. "These trees will help conceal our presence, so I doubt that they'll be able to see us."

"And they're not concealing themselves, speaking that openly, either," the white-haired boy added.

Tsubaki and Soul sat in silence, listening to the couple spout nonsense. Actually, it sounded like they were arguing. Maka was saying something about how books were much more important than sports, and Black Star was very clearly disagreeing. He brought up the argument that without sports, lots of kids would be really bored. Maka had disregarded that argument, stating that without books, knowledge would have to be passed down through stories told out loud, and that would risk losing important elements or the content changing through the generations. From the looks of it, Black Star had stopped listening to her from the moment that she opened her mouth.

Once Maka finished her sermon, Black Star just dropped the subject completely. He moved on to talk about Tsubaki. Maka, Soul and Tsubaki all listened to him praising his partner, saying how she had helped prepare food for picnics that she wasn't even invited to, and how she was still so kind to him even when he was hardly around. He, too, could also sense that their relationship was being strained, but he said that everything would be coming to a close soon. Before he could elaborate further, the sound of a twig snapping under Soul's foot caught everyone's attention.

Maka was quick so see the flash of white hair ducking back behind the trees. From where Tsubaki was sitting, she could see Maka whisper something to her boyfriend, and without warning, he kissed her.

Soul took a sharp breath. He looked at Tsubaki, but the girl seemed unaffected, except for the twitching of her eye. He turned away from the couple, a heavy pain in his chest. Tsubaki was beside him shortly, patting his back. She had a smile glued on her face, but her eyes gave away her feelings.

After Black Star and Maka broke apart, the girl was left speechless. That had been her first kiss. And he had stolen it. Without asking. Oh, she wanted more than to just Maka Chop him. She wanted to punch him, but she was forced to play it cool, as if she didn't care. She had to act like that was a natural occurence, especially since Soul and Tsubaki were just a little ways off.

Maka had been so caught off guard that she hadn't noticed a man with bright red hair jump out of the trees until he was on the poor boy.

"Just who do you think you are, stealing a kiss from my Maka?" Spirit yelled furiously, smacking the boy on the head repeatedly.

The ash-blonde was half expecting the boy to laugh and fight back, but he seemed just as baffled at his actions as the rest of them. He couldn't care less if the Death Scythe was pounding his head in. He wondered if kissing Maka was the smartest thing to do.

Tsubaki came into the clearing slowly, first staying by the edge, but finally going to her Meister's side to help him get his girlfriend's father off of him.

Once he was off, Spirit stood there, still fuming, until Maka told him to go away because he was creepy for watching them.

As much as the raven-haired girl tried to hide her true feelings, Maka could see right through her. The three of them sat in an awkward silence before Maka suddenly wondered where Soul was.

"I thought that I saw him..." she said quietly, trying to see behind some trees.

When Tsubaki had gone into the clearing, Soul had stood up and said that he was going back home. She had seen how hurt he was so she just gave him a consoling pat without any questions. She said none of this to Maka, however.

"So... What now?" Maka piped after a while.

"I... should go back. I shouldn't have intruded on your date. Just... continue like I was never here. Sorry," the other girl mumbled, bowing.

She looked up, hoping that one or the other would say that it was fine for her to stay, but neither of them made eye contact with her. She backed out of the clearing silently, and once she was out of their sight, she started running.

"Seriously. What now?" the ash-blonde asked again, this time turning to Black Star.

"I guess... We should break up?" he suggested lightly.

Maka nodded. "Perfect."


	8. Chapter 8

Wow, you guys really didn't like that last chapter, huh.  
Also! There's nothing wrong with me! Dx  
loljk guys. Hopefully, this chapter will redeem me?  
/sobs I kept fangirling towards the end while I was writing this  
how embarrassing... i'm embarrassing.  
Hopefully you guys like this chapter! Thanks for reading~

* * *

In two days, Black Star and Maka would be breaking the news to everyone that they broke up. For now, they would be staying quiet. When Maka returned from her date, Blair was in her cat form, sitting on the armrest of a chair. Soul was nowhere to be seen.

Silently, the girl searched all over the house for her partner. She checked outside, as well. She considered all of the places that he would normally be, but he wasn't at the basketball court, by the DWMA, by the shops, or anywhere else. She grew warm, a nervous dropping feeling in her stomach. _Where could he be?_ When she hadn't found him in the forest, she had assumed that he had gone straight home, but she had been wrong.

As final places to check, Maka checked by both Kid's place and Tsubaki's, but he wasn't there either. As she was saying goodbye to Liz, ominous clouds started to cover the Sun, which seemed to frowning at Maka. Soon enough, little droplets of rain hit the pavement. She hadn't brought an umbrella, but she was determined to find Soul before she went home.

She ran. It was raining hard, so she searched for a dry place where she could concentrate. She ducked into an alley that was covered by the roofs of the buildings on either side, and leaned against a wall. She closed her eyes, trying to concentrate so that she could use Soul Perception. When she had tracked down Soul, she moved hastily.

She ran quickly through the streets of Death City in the pouring rain, wondering why Soul hadn't gone home.

Shortly, she arrived at the location that she sensed her Weapon's soul. It was raining hard now, and it was hard to see.

"Soul?" she girl called. "Soul, where are you?"

He was leaning against a wall in a back alley, the same as Maka had been doing earlier. "Here," he croaked quietly. He knew that she wouldn't be able to hear him through the rain, but he didn't feel like speaking in a voice any louder. He could see the outline of her figure approaching him.

"Soul! I know you're here!" Soon enough, she was right beside him.

"You found me..." he laughed weakly.

The girl took a big, exasperated breath in response. "Don't. What are you doing out here?"

He almost let out a snort, saying, "I could ask you the same thing."

Obviously, he knew why she was outside during a storm, but it made him smile when she answered that she was looking for him. "Were you worried?" he asked her in a small voice.

She stared at him before she turned her face away, feeling a blush creep its way up her cheeks. She clearly _was_ worried. Why would she go out in the rain looking for him if she wasn't? "Don't," she mumbled. "Don't do this ever again." She pulled him closer to her, wrapping her arms around his torso.

"Heh... I guess that wasn't very cool of me," he muttered in her hair. The pair made their way home, and Soul was smiling the whole way. Maybe Maka didn't return his feelings, but he was content just knowing that she cared.

* * *

The Sun was setting, and Soul stood in the kitchen, drenched. He had insisted that Maka take a shower first, so he was looking for something to eat. He eventually pulled out some bread and strawberry jam, then proceeded to make himself a sandwich.

Maka stepped out of the washroom just as he finished the last bite of his sandwich. She popped her head into the kitchen to let him know that it was his turn before she scurried into her room.

She closed the door behind her, then fell onto her bed, burying her face into her pillows. She pulled out a small book and a pen from underneath a pillow, then opened it to a new page.

_Ways to let the others know that Black Star and I broke up._

She underlined it two times, skipped a line, then wrote,

_1. Just say it. If they ask why, then say that it wasn't working out._

_2. _

Before she could write any more, her door opened and Soul appeared. His hair was damp from his shower, and he had a towel draped over his shoulders. He seemed tired. Wordlessly, she sauntered over to her bed and he sat down, hardly giving Maka time to throw her journal back under the pillows.

"Are you okay?" she asked him curiously.

Out of nowhere, he blurted out, "Do you really like Black Star?"

She was silent. She didn't know how to respond. She _didn't_ like Black Star, and he didn't like her either, but no one was supposed to know that. Although... They were over now. And the plan was coming to a close, so perhaps she could tell Soul. She looked up at him to see his eyes with a nervous expectancy in them. She shook her head.

Now it was Soul's turn to be taken by surprise. He had been hoping that that would be her answer, but he had been anticipating another response. After a few seconds, he found his voice. "You... don't? You don't like him?"

"No," she confirmed. "I don't like Black Star." Hearing those words come from her lips filled him with such ecstasy that he started to laugh.

"You don't like him," he repeated, just to be sure.

Again, Maka shook her head. "I don't like him," she smiled.

Without processing his actions, he hugged her tightly. "God, Maka..." When he felt her hand patting him on the back, he released her. "Does he like you?" When she shook her head again, he gave another laugh in disbelief. "So why are you guys dating?"

Maka's smile widened in relief. It felt so nice to finally reveal the plan to Soul. She had been trying to keep her distance from him for the past few weeks, since whenever they were remotely close to each other, she felt the sudden urge to tell him everything. But now, it didn't matter.

She opened her mouth to start speaking, started with the same thing that she had said to Blair when she had asked.

"Black Star likes Tsubaki. He was worried that he wouldn't be good enough for her, so he asked me for help. Of course, I was shocked at this, since Black Star, who will surpass God, is asking _me_ for _help_? Amazing. I was tempted to say no to helping him, but when he mentioned that it was _Tsubaki_ that he liked, plans started planting themselves in my head. So I agreed.

This was a month ago. For two weeks, we were secretly discussing ways to get Tsubaki to notice him in a romantic way. Girls always get jealous when something that they want is in the hands of someone else, so I suggested that we could pretend to be a couple to see how Tsubaki would react. I guess it's the same thing as "you never know what you have until it's gone." Anyways. We started developing that plan.

After two weeks of planning, he finally asked me on that first date. I saw Tsubaki's reaction to that, and I have to say, it was pretty similar to what I was expecting. Everything was pretty much going according to plan, which was great. Apparently, last week, Black Star told Tsubaki that he broke up with me, which could have totally ruined the plan. That could have been really bad, but actually, the end result of all of that was pretty good. She seemed awfully concerned about our "relationship" and I could easily see that she had some conflicting feelings. I explained to her later about the misunderstanding that we broke up, but she seemed kind of distant. Kind of like she didn't want to listen.

Then we went on a bunch of dates this week, just to see if it would irk her. And I think it did. When she saw Black Star kiss me, I was afraid that she would punch me, to be honest. I was ready to punch Black Star, though. He just kissed me without warning! Ugh."

Soul nodded, taking it all in. _They never liked each other. It was fake._ He couldn't help but smile again. "But what did you get out of all of this?" he asked her after a pause, asking the same question that Blair did.

The ash-blonde shrugged. "Nothing. I just... Wanted them to be happy, I guess," she repeated the words that she had given the cat.

There was a comfortable silence between them, when Soul spoke up. Once she had said it, he couldn't get the thought of his mind. "What you said about girls always getting jealous when something that they want is in the hands of someone else... Does that apply to you?" When she gave a short nod, he continued, "So is that why you always get so mad when Blair paws at me?" he grinned.

Maka stared at him, unsure whether she should laugh, be offended, or just nod. "I..." her voice wavered as a nervous giggle escaped her. "MAKA CHOP!" Her face was red and she avoided making eye contact with her partner.

He chuckled, lightly ruffling her hair. "That's okay... You don't have to say anything. But... I'm on a roll tonight, so I might as well say this before I chicken out," he took a deep breath, then cupped her face in his hands, just like how he had always wanted to. "Maka... I may be acting weird, but trust me, what I'm saying right now... It's all true. For the past two weeks, there were so many moments when I had the overwhelming urge to either punch Black Star, or pull you away from him. And now I know why. It's not just girls. What you said applies to me too. I get _extremely_ jealous when something that I want is in the hands of someone else. And what I want is you," he whispered, before standing up. "Good night, Maka."

At this point, Maka was burning up. From embarrassment or the upcoming fever that she was surely about to get from being out in the rain, she wasn't sure.


	9. Chapter 9

I don't even have words to say for this chapter... LOL  
They're a bit out of character, but then again, who isn't when they're sick?  
Hopefully it's alright! The next chapter(s) should be focused on TsuStar, so if you guys have been waiting for them I'll try to get it started~  
Thanks for reading!

* * *

Soul leaned on his now closed door. What had just happened was only now starting to sink in. He couldn't stop himself from smiling again. Although during the day, things were going horribly for him, tonight was proving to be quite the opposite. _Maka and Black Star were never really dating,_ kept running through his mind. The best thing about tonight would have to be that he finally confessed. He brought a hand up to his face, covering one eye. He chuckled at the memory of the girl's face when he had said that last line, "and what I want is you."

He laughed at her expression, of course, but he was also laughing at himself. _How uncool..._ he thought as he lazily dragged himself into bed. _Oh well, as long as Maka thought it was cool, then I guess that it doesn't matter._ He looked out his window, up at the Moon, with its ever-present grin. Today had been a very eventful day, and he was tired. _We don't have school tomorrow... I can spend the whole day with Maka..._ And with that last thought, sleep took him.

* * *

The next morning, Maka woke up when her door opened. Soul stumbled in, looking groggy and sweaty.

"I'm cold..." he whined, still half-asleep. Without saying anything else, he crawled into her bed, forcing her to move over to make room for him. She too, was still half-asleep, and didn't really react to him cuddling against her.

"Are you sick?" she asked, placing a hand on his forehead. She was surprised by both the nasally quality of her voice, and the heat that she now realized was emitting from her partner. "Soul, you're burning up," she commented, making a move to get up.

"Don't leave," he mumbled into her shoulder, "I'll be cold again."

_He's like a big baby when he's sick..._ she thought, smiling. It was more than a little uncharacteristic of Soul to be acting this way. After all, what kind of "cool" guy whines like a baby to the girl that he had just confessed to the night before? It was even more uncool that he had gotten sick overnight, and needed to be taken care of.

"I'll be right back," she said quietly, throwing the covers off of herself, and immediately regretted it. The cold air made her want to stay in bed, but she knew that she had to get up. It was Saturday morning, and Blair was at ChupaCabra's, leaving the ill duo to take care of themselves.

The girl brought herself to the kitchen, forcing herself to bring out a pot and make some soup despite her shivering. She was currently much better off than Soul, and she figured that her sickness was something that she could sleep off later. She rushed, wanting to get back to Soul as soon as possible. After twenty minutes, she had ladled warm chicken soup into two bowls; one for Soul, and one for her.

When she returned to her room, she found the albino sleeping under her covers, shivering.

"Soul?" she said lightly, putting the two bowls down on her desk. She hovered her hand above him, about to touch him, but stopped. Even from a distance, she could feel heat coming from him like he was a radiator.

His eyes opened slightly, just enough for him to see her, and he smiled. "Makaaa~"

She paused, shocked at what she had just heard. She gave a small giggle, and found herself thinking how cute he was. "Can you sit up? Here, have some soup," she said, taking a spoonful of the hot liquid and blowing on it. "Ah..." she encouraged, bringing the spoon closer to his face.

When she was done helping Soul to finish his soup, she proceeded to have hers. She brought the two bowls to the kitchen and left them in the sink. She came back to her room with a thermometer, ready to take the boy's temperature. She stuck the thermometer under his arm, not particularly paying attention when he complained that it was cold. After a few minutes, she took it out, and saw that his body temperature was at 40 degrees.

"This is your own fault," she said, her voice barely more than a whisper. "Staying out in the rain... And then insisting that I go wash first. If you weren't ill, this would be a perfect opportunity for a Maka Chop."

Again, she left the room, and when she came back, she was holding a glass of water. "You need to stay hydrated," she explained, handing him the glass. "And..." she paused for a dramatic effect, then snatched the covers off of him. "You need to stay out of the blankets. It'll help cool you down."

* * *

Maka went back into her room, where Soul hadn't moved from. She held a basin with cool water and a towel. As she was squeezing the water out from the towel, she turned to Soul, who was eyeing her curiously. She mumbled something inaudible, masked by a cough. At Soul's puzzled expression, she repeated herself. "Shirt off," at his coy smile at her, she elaborated, "This should help cool you down too."

Once his shirt was off, she said that just his torso would be fine, since he was already cooling down. She started with his back, using the towel to wipe off his sweat as well as get the cool water on him. Eventually, she got to his chest, and Soul noticed a pinkish tint to her cheeks. He was feeling much better now, and was starting to return to his regular self, no longer acting like a small child. As much as he wanted to joke, he knew that her pink cheeks were not a result of their close proximity, but because Maka's fever had gotten worse. He said nothing, watching her as she finished his sponge bath.

From the bathroom, he heard her tell him to get some more rest, and that he did. He thought it best to obey whatever Maka said for now, since he had a feeling that in a couple of hours, their roles would be switched.

* * *

And right he was. When he woke up, he was feeling great, except for a minor headache. Maka had somehow passed out beside him, her arm draped over him and her knees pulled up just slightly.

Soul snorted. She was spooning him.

He turned around to face her, then pulled her closer, realizing that she was shivering. Her eyes opened briefly, but closed again after seeming to register that it was just him. He studied her sleeping face, the way that her cheeks were flushed pink and how her eyes would flutter open when he moved her, only to close again after a few seconds.

Soul noticed that a shock how warm she was. As he was getting up, she started to cough, shivering violently. He looked at her, concerned. She had actually gotten worse throughout the day, which was the opposite of the albino. Then again, she _had_ been taking care of him. Hesitantly, he put a hand on her forehead, which was what he saw Maka do first. She was even warmer than he had been. He wanted to take care of her, but Maka wasn't often sick, so he didn't really know where to start.

_Okay. What did she do after she felt my forehead?_ He paced back and forth, before heading to the kitchen. "She made soup," he nodded, checking the pot that was still on the stove. Just enough for one bowl. He grinned, turning on the stove to heat it up. _This is turning out to be pretty easy... I'm going to treat Maka like a princess whenever she's sick._

As he waited for the soup to get warm, he stared out the window, asking himself what he was supposed to do next. It was a bit gloomy, rain still falling from the sky in quiet drops. At least it was better than it had been last night. Blair stayed in her cat form for most of the night, and Soul had headr her meowing all night long. His thoughts drifted, wondering how she was coping with the rain as she was at work, but his attention was brought back to the pot of soup when he saw the steam rising.

He put the remaining soup into a bowl and brought it back to Maka, who was, despite feeling extremely sick, sitting up and reading a book. Soul plucked it gingerly out of her hands, pulling off her blanket while he was at it. She made a face, as if to protest, but when she opened her mouth to speak, no sound came out. She pouted, pulling her knees close to her as Soul sat on the edge of the bed, already having a spoonful of soup ready.

Hard-headed as ever, the girl wordlessly refused to be fed, and took the spoon and bowl from her partner. Soul shrugged, letting her take them. Even when she was sick, he knew that there was no use in arguing with her over it. Maka wasn't the type of girl who let herself be shown as weak, and Soul knew and acknowledged that more than anyone else.

He took the bowl back into the kitchen once she was done, then thought that it would be best to let her rest alone. Just as he was turning around to head to his room, he started thinking that Maka couldn't be trusted to just sleep. She'd probably end up reading or something.

"Maka, sleep in the living room," he said as he popped his head into her room.

"Don't want to," she croaked in a weak voice.

Sighing, he trudged over, then sat in the chair by her desk. "Fine. Then I guess that I'll stay in here while you sleep. I'll make sure that you're not secretly reading."

She frowned, but obediently put her head down on her pillow, fighting the urge to pull her blanket back on. She tried her hardest to get to sleep, but it was proving to be difficult, seeing as she was cold and truthfully not that tired.

It took a while, but she drifted to sleep, and once Soul made sure that she wasn't faking it, he wandered her room, looking at all of the books that she had. There were also quite a few nameless books, and when he pulled them out and opened them, he found out that they were diaries. His conscience told him that he shouldn't go snooping, but when would he ever get another chance like this? He flipped to a random page on the one that he was already holding.

_June 1_

_Soul and I got into a fight today. I asked him to play the piano for me, but he said no. I kept asking and asking, so I guess that eventually, he just blew a fuse. I suppose that I should have known better though. I heard him talking to his brother earlier, and I shouldn't have pushed his buttons like that. He seems really angry, and I'm kind of scared to go apologize. But I know that I have to. Hopefully he'll forgive me..._

There was no year on it, but judging from the event that she described, this had been written a few years back. He smiled, then flipped the page. He continued reading until he heard Maka stirring. He was just putting the diary back in her bookshelf as her eyes opened.

"Soul?" she asked, her eyes still adjusting. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing," he said a bit too quickly. "Do you need anything?"

The ash-blonde shook her head, yawning. "I'm feeling a bit better, but I think that I should rest a bit more. Did anyone call?"

"I'll get you a glass of water anyways," he said.

When he returned, he continued. "No one called. Were you expecting one?"

She nodded, taking a sip of water. "Black Star was supposed to call so that we could talk about how we were going to bring up the news of us breaking up."

"Well it's only 3," he said, looking at the clock. "He'll probably phone us later. In the meantime, get some more rest. And finish your water," he added, glancing at the hardly touched glass.

* * *

At 6, Blair came back home, slightly agitated. The rain was still going, and was making the cat moody. The feeling of sickness in the house wasn't making things any better. She barged into Maka's room, and was about to say something really loudly, but Soul stopped her, putting a finger to his lips.

He was on his side, lying down beside Maka, whose forehead was touching his chest lightly. Both teens were still in their pajamas, unchanged for the whole day. He was stroking her hair as she slept, and he had just found out that she snored very lightly. The cat backed out of the room, jumping on the arm of a couch in her cat form.

After a few minutes, Soul left Maka's room, closing the door quietly. He turned to Blair. "So what were you going to say?"

She shifted back into her human form, a mischievous smirk on her lips. "On my way home today, I heard a very interesting story about what your friends Black Star and Tsubaki are up to. I wouldn't suppose that you'd like to know what it is, would you?"


	10. Chapter 10

AHHHH I finally updated! I'm so sorry for the long delay guys!  
To be perfectly honest with you guys, I was having a ridiculous writer's block.  
And it didn't really help that this chapter revolved around Black Star and Tsubaki... I have a really hard time writing as Black Star!  
I feel like I never portray him properly... So I'm really sorry if he (or anyone else) is OOC.  
Also, a Guest reviewer brought to my attention in the last chapter that "Soul can't be 40 degrees. He'd be dead."  
I live in Canada. I use Celsius. 40 degrees C = 104 degrees F. Sorry for not being clear!  
Also, I'd like to thank iPokexU, Queenboo5311, and BlueGuns for helping me out of my writer's block!  
As always, thanks you for reading, and I hope that you enjoy!

* * *

Black Star put down the phone. He wasn't angry, but he couldn't believe that Maka told everything about their plan to Soul. If he was going to find out, Black Star wanted to tell him himself. But what was done was done, and he supposed that there was no use over getting upset about it.

Things had been pretty normal between him and Tsubaki, but he could sense that she was a little cautious around him. He still hadn't told her that his relationship with Maka was over. She would just have to find out along with the others.

The boy leaned back in his chair, swinging his feet up to rest them on the table, only to be scolded by his raven-haired companion.

"Black Star! Keep your feet off of the table!" she said, pushing his feet down as she passed by him.

The boy said nothing, only following her with his gaze. He could tell that her feelings for him were wavering between them just being partners and her wanting to be something more. He hadn't noticed it before, but when Maka pointed it out that one time, he started observing her more closely, and sure enough, he could start seeing little hints of it too.

"Tsubaki! We should do something today!"

The girl hesitated for half a second before she turned around, her pleasant smile ever-present on her face. "Like what?"

* * *

Tsubaki had gladly come along to play basketball with the others. It was a welcome distraction, since for the past couple of days, the only person that she had been around was Black Star. She laughed, looking at Maka, on the opposing team, confused with what to do with the ball.

"The mighty Black Star steals the ball from Maka, he shoots... He scores! YAHOO!"

Tsubaki could sympathize with the girl, however. She heard that Maka suffered a horrible fever yesterday, and she was only feeling better today. The raven-haired Weapon was making her way over to the ash-blonde, and only saw the excited Thompson sister coming at her when it was too late.

"Oof!"

The girl fell to the ground, scraping her knee in the process. Patty landed on her shortly.

"Awwww, sorry Tsubaki!" the younger girl said, getting up with a sheepish look on her face as she scratched her head. Black Star had stopped rejoicing to look over at his partner.

"Tsubaki?" he said, his voice dripping with concern. He was next to her in a flash, helping her to stand. He held her hand a little longer than what the others were expecting, and even as he pulled it away, there was a sense of intimacy between the two of them.

Kid cleared his throat, looking over at Maka. The others still hadn't been told that their relationship was over. Maka stared back at the son of Death, and decided that it would probably be best if they just spilled the beans now.

"By the way..." Maka started, looking at Black Star for the go-ahead. He gave her a small nod, and she continued, "We broke up."

Tsubaki almost choked. The scrape on her knee was stinging, but she ignored it. She turned her attention to her Meister, saying, "You never told me that. When did you guys break up?" She had so many questions reeling through her mind, and she wanted them all to be answered. Now.

Black Star pondered idly whether or not he should just tell Tsubaki about the plan. When he looked at her face, he was almost repulsed by his previous thought. Tsubaki would probably push him off the cliff next time they went training if he told her. "A couple of days ago..." he admitted.

The whole group listened quietly as both Maka and Black Star answered all of Tsubaki's seemingly panicked questions. By the end of it all, Tsubaki realized with a sudden jolt that "a couple of days ago" had been their last date, where Soul and Tsubaki had been spying on them. "Did you break up because of me and Soul spying on you?" she squeaked.

"No! Well... Yes... We broke up because Bl-" Maka was very rudely interrupted by the blue-haired boy.

"Because I like _you_, obviously!" the boy said smugly. "I could never like a girl like Maka. We're too... different," he finished flatly.

There was an awkward silence before Liz finally snorted something that sounded like "So he finally said it," followed by Patty's "Took him long enough!"

As usual, Tsubaki was torn on how she felt about the situation. On one hand, she felt upset because their relationship was over because of her, but on the other hand... She felt something that she couldn't quite place her finger on.

It didn't matter anyways, since Black Star was surprisingly gentle as he led the young woman to a bench to sit down. It hurt the boy's ego that she hadn't reacted to him saying that he liked her, but what could he do about it? The others continued playing as if nothing had happened, but the Weapon and Meister duo could clearly see that they were acting very oddly. Most of their actions were really stiff, and Maka was even trying to follow the rules.

Black Star knelt down to inspect his partner's injury. It wasn't too bad, but he wasn't about to let her go play again without him doing anything. That would probably hurt the big star's ego even more. He started searching his pockets, until finally, a small bottle of rubbing alcohol and a band-aid appeared. He always kept those two items around just in case he ever got a cut. He's never had to use them before, so he was considering stopping that habit, but he was glad that he didn't. Now he could take care of Tsubaki.

She winced at the sight of him opening the rubbing alcohol. It was going to sting, she knew, but when he poured it on her knee... Her leg jerked forward and her foot made contact with his groin.

In the background, the girl was faintly aware of the basketball dropping, and all heads turned in her direction, looking at her with wide eyes. Her reaction was a little delayed, as was Black Star's cry of pain.

"Oh! Black Star, I'm so sorry!"

"It's... fine..." he managed to squeak out in response. He was lucky that her kick hadn't been spot-on, but it still _really_ hurt. He took a few moments to compose himself, Tsubaki leaning over him, concern, sorry, and a flicker of amusement clear in her eyes.

After he managed to get himself to sit upright again, he slapped the band-aid onto her knee, then hauled himself up. He was awfully quick to recover from the kick to his crotch, but that was Black Star for you. "YAHOO! Now that Tsubaki and I are ready to go again, let's do this! WITH A BIG STAR LIKE ME, MY TEAM IS SURE TO WIN!"

Sure enough, the team consisting of Black Star, Tsubaki, Patty, and Crona, won against the others, 66 to 48.

* * *

When the duo got home, Black Star crashed on the couch. Tsubaki headed for a bath, but couldn't help but peek at him before she closed the door. There he was, with sweat rolling down his neck again. Tsubaki bit her lip, thinking about the day that her Meister told her that he broke up with Maka. He also had sweat rolling down his neck that day, after playing basketball with the others. She started to fill the bathtub with warm water as she felt heat rush to her face.

Did she _like_ Black Star? She did, didn't she? Why else did she put up with her ridiculous antics for so long? Well, she certainly hadn't liked him since the beginning, but she knew that her previous feelings were blossoming into something more. _What? They are?_ she thought as she sank into her warm bath.

She brought both of her hands up to her face, covering her eyes. She supposed that she felt _something_ for Black Star, and it was different from what she had always felt for him. But did she like him? Was that what she felt? He liked her, and he admitted it to everyone earlier. She sank even lower into the bathtub as she remembered the event. Now that she replayed it in her mind, she felt really bad. She hadn't even reacted to what he said! "Urghhh..." she muttered, and bubbles emerged from the water where her mouth was submerged. She had probably really embarrassed him, with her "no reaction" thing going on.

Slowly, she brought her mind back to the question weighing on her mind. _Do I like him?_


	11. Chapter 11

So here. /throws chapter at you guys  
Please punch me for not updating in a while.  
Thanks again to iPokexU and Queenboo5311 for helping me out with this chapter!  
This fic will probably be ending soon, but I guarantee at least two more chapters!  
Also, no one bother me about that kiss scene I just. Can't.  
I'm too awkward I'm sorry. orz  
Anyways, thanks for reading, and I hope that you enjoy!

* * *

"Oh. I thought that you liked each other..." Patty mumbled as she stared at Tsubaki's face. The latter grew a bit pink.

"Well... It's not that I _don't_ like him..." she trailed off, and Patty piped up again.

"Great! So you like him! Now go on, don't be shy. Have fun!" The blonde waved as she headed back, leaving Tsubaki outside of the building.

Black Star was waiting for her inside. The Weapon wasn't quite sure how it happened, but somehow, Patty convinced her and Black Star to go on a sort of "date." Her reasoning wasn't quite off, since everyone knew that Black Star liked her, and it wasn't that hard to tell that Tsubaki felt something for him too.

She took a deep breath, turned around, then walked into the building. Black Star already got them the wristbands to go on the rides. He had a wide smile as he waved her over.

"YAHOO! Let's go on the huge roller coaster first!" he said, running towards the exit on the other side of the building. Once they passed through those doors, they would be surrounded by activity. The girl wasn't really looking forward to going on the big daredevil rides, but unfortunately for her, she didn't have much say in it. Black Star was already pulling her in line before she could protest.

They went on ride after ride after ride, all chosen by the blue-haired boy, and all rides deemed "scary." He wasn't so insensitive though, that he didn't notice that Tsubaki wasn't having too much fun. After they got off yet another roller coaster, he turned to her, and in a serious tone, said that she could pick the rides that she wanted to go on now. "After all, you went on all of the rides that I wanted to go on, so I won't complain on your choices. Even if they're lame and unfit for a big star like me."

Tsubaki suppressed a giggle on that statement, wondering how he could possibly say something so bluntly arrogant and yet still keep a straight face and a serious tone. She brought a finger to the side of her chin as she thought of all of the different rides that were there. There weren't very many that she _really_ wanted to go on, but after all of those heart-stopping 70 meter drops, she just wanted to go on something slow and calming.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a group of children rushing to one ride in specific. They could start with that. A carousel.

Admittedly, while they were on the ride, Black Star was super bored, but it was worth it to see Tsubaki smiling like that. To be perfectly honest, he had pretty much forced her on all of the big scary rides.

Once they got off, Tsubaki spotted the ferris wheel. As she was about to point it out, her date dragged her the other way. "Can we go on the ferris wheel last?" he asked, earning him a questioning gaze for the girl. He shrugged, then suggested that they go on the Teacups.

The couple made their way through the park, going on the calmer rides after a few wild choices made by the big star himself. They played a few games while they were at it, like popping balloons and ring toss. Needless to say, Black Star won his partner a giant stuffed unicorn in the process.

"Whew!" Tsubaki laughed as the both of them sat on a nearby bench, her holding on to her new unicorn. After a few moments of sitting together in silence, Tsubaki looked up at the ferris wheel. "Shall we go there now?" It was a little late now, with the Sun setting. The two had been at the park the whole day. Her Meister nodded, then took her hand, running towards the lineup.

When Tsubaki turned her head to look at Black Star, she noticed that he seemed a bit nervous, which was very odd for him. Where was the confident and arrogant boy from a few moments ago? He was fiddling with his thumbs, and his date watching him idly, both of them unaware of the line moving ahead of them until the guy behind them told them to hurry it up.

The man operating the man closed the small gate preventing them from getting out of the ride while it was in motion, then the ferris wheel started to move as more passengers were loaded on. As the ride continued to go up slowly, Black Star's eyes were fixated on Tsubaki. Meanwhile, the young woman was too busy looking at the scenery outside to notice his gaze. Little did she know that her Meister was mentally preparing himself for what he wanted to say to her.

The ferris wheel continued moving, as Black Star psyched himself up to say what he wanted to say to her. Tsubaki continued looking out the window as lights started to come on. It was really beautiful, but she couldn't bring herself to appreciate it at all, since there were thoughts rampaging through her mind.

No matter what she did to get her mind off of the subject, she always found herself asking if she liked him.

Black Star cleared his throat, then called out to her, "Tsubaki."

She turned her head and met his eyes.

He knew what he wanted to say to her. He had been preparing himself for it the whole day, and he thought that he was ready just now. But he was wrong. The moment they made eye contact, Black Star lurched forward and planted his lips on hers, earning him a muffled and panicked yelp.

Tsubaki wasn't troubled by the kiss. In fact, she liked it. _Really_ liked it. She was more concerned that their seat was tipping to her side, and it was very clearly stated not to make sudden movements. It could be described as one of the most cliché first kisses, considering that Black Star timed it just right so that they were at the very top of the ferris wheel. Of course, he had been planning on confessing that his true feelings for her were stronger than just "like," but the kiss was alright too. If not better.

When they got off the ride, they were holding hands, and Tsubaki was completely certain of her feelings for him. She loved him. She always had, and she always would. Black Star never ended up saying what he wanted to say, but he decided that he could just write her a letter. Tsubaki held her unicorn in one hand as the couple walked out of the park.


	12. Chapter 12

I AM SO SORRY FOR TAKING SO LONG TO UPDATE  
Okay so. This is technically the last chapter.  
BUT! I will be putting in one more chapter, which will answer questions that the rest of the fic left unanswered.  
For example... What gossip did Blair hear about TsuStar at the end of chapter 9?  
Or what's happening with Black Star's letter to Tsubaki in chapter 11?  
All should hopefully be answered in the next chapter!  
So if you have any questions that you want answers to, then leave it as a review and I will get on it~  
And about a sequel... Probably not, but I think what I might do is that I'll make a collection of drabbles that take place after this fic.  
I'm not sure when that will be, so don't anticipate too much, because it's still only an idea. c:  
And I still can't do kiss scenes please forgive me lol  
Also I feel like this chapter was a little rushed (and OOC. I am so sorry) but I really just wanted to update for you guys.  
As always, thanks for reading, and I hope that you enjoy!

* * *

"Soul!" Maka stood in front of the albino, her arms crossed. He was lying on the sofa, his music faintly audible through his ear buds. He opened one eye to look at his partner, then sat up, turning off his music.

"Yeah?"

The ash-blonde gestured for him to move over, then plopped down beside him. "We have to talk."

Soul froze. Those were every man's most hated words. He was almost tempted to say no or make excuses. _What is there to talk about? I haven't done anything wrong... Is this about eating the snacks that she bought? But she didn't even notice that! It's been a week... Oh god, what is this..."_

"I'm sorry!" he exclaimed, bowing his head, and distancing himself from her. "I'm sorry I ate the snacks!"

"Huh...?" Maka gave him a funny look, then waved the subject off. "I just wanted to ask you if... Uh... Well Liz and Patty were wondering... If you happened to like m- Do you like anyone?"

Soul almost choked. _I can't believe she's asking me that. What a dummy._ He looked at her seriously, then said, very slowly, "Yes." He refused to elaborate further. He basically already confessed to her a few nights ago, and it was still difficult for him to get over it. He snorted lightly as he remembered what he had said that night. _"I get _extremely_ jealous when something that I want is in the hands of someone else. And what I want is you." _He thought that he had been pretty clear that he liked her, but apparently, he wasn't obvious enough for Maka.

She cleared her through, then croaked nervously, "Who?"

Soul gave her an incredulous expression, then stood up. "Guess." He turned his music up again, then walked to his room, as coolly as he could manage.

Maka sat alone on the couch, confused as to why her Weapon seemed so moody. She had only been asking who he was interested in. She pouted, deciding to head to her room as well, picking out a good book to read.

Maka was halfway done her book when she read something that sparked her memory of what she thought was a dream that she had. The main character was confessing his feelings to his childhood friend. That scene made her recall her "dream" of when Soul confessed to her. When she woke up the next morning, Soul was sick, so she hadn't been able to think much of it, but now that she remembered it... It was possible that it hadn't been a dream after all.

She put her book down and called out into the house. "Soul?" When there was no response, she waltzed into his room. He wasn't there. She furrowed her brow, proceeding to the living room, where Blair sat on the arm of the sofa, eating her homemade pumpkin pie. "Blair, have you seen Soul?" she questioned.

"He went out. Didn't you hear him?" Blair asked her, her eyebrow raised.

"Oh. No, I didn't. I guess I was so absorbed in my book that I didn't hear him," the younger girl laughed sheepishly in response, rubbing the back of her head.

"Why?" the cat asked, putting down her plate of pie and turning her full attention of the ash-blonde.

Maka just smiled, making a wide gesture with her hand. "Um, no reason. I just wanted to talk to him! Haha!"

"Mhm..." Blair picked up her pie again, but it was clear that she wasn't convinced. "About what?"

"Just... what he wants for dinner," she lied. Not wanting to be asked any more questions, Maka retreated to her room and buried her nose in her book again.

Blair just smiled to herself. Once she finished her pie, she knocked on Maka's door, telling her that she would be leaving for work.

Once she was gone, Maka poked her head into the living room. If Soul was out too, then no one was in the house except for her.

She took a deep breath, then let out a frustrated scream. She ran her fingers through her hair, pacing back and forth. "Okay. So maybe that wasn't a dream? That would explain why he was so moody earlier..." she muttered to herself. She had only assumed that it had been a dream because she knew that she wasn't in her right mind that night. She could feel the fever coming on, so she had automatically thought that what was happening wasn't real. Besides that, she had been dreaming of Soul's confession for a while, so when it really happened, of course she thought that it was a dream.

Getting even more flustered as time flew by, Maka ruffled her hair once more. "It wasn't a dream, then? He really said that to me?" Her cheeks grew pink at the memory. _How should I approach him about this whole misunderstanding? I can't really just go up to him when he comes home and say "I thought that your confession was a dream!"_ she sighed. She dragged her feet ever-so-slightly as she made her way to the kitchen sink. She could see her reflection in the window, and she didn't really feel like going to a real mirror.

_Alright Maka... Get your act together,_ she told herself, patting her face with both hands. For a while, she just stood there, her hands gripping the counter so hard that her knuckles were turning white. When she finally decided on what she should say, she didn't hold back on her practice round. "Soul, I thought that I was dreaming when you confessed to me! I knew that I had a fever and I really thought that I was just imagining it, since I've been dreaming of you confessing to me for a while now! So I'm really sorry that I asked you who you liked this morning!" she took a pause, breathing in. "Too unnatural. I should just casually bring it up..."

"No need to," came a male voice from behind her.

Maka tensed, instantly recognizing that voice and refusing to turn around. _Oh no. _Please _no. Please don't tell me that he heard all of that. I think I'm going to be sick._

"Maka?" Soul was beside her in an instant, his hand on her shoulder. "You okay there? I heard you scream so I came up to see what was going on, but then I heard you talking to yourself..." he grinned.

"What? What do you mean you came up? Weren't you out?"

A puzzled expression came on Soul's face as he said no, but it vanished at the mention of Blair. "And you believed her that I was out? I always tell you before I leave the house, dummy. I was just in the basement." He sighed, decidedly putting his arm on her shoulder. He started walking into the living room, Maka in tow.

The two of them sat on the couch. Soul looked at Maka before she started saying something but stopped when he saw her facial expression. She resembled a confused but happy puppy. "Pfft." He moved his hand to his mouth just as he turned away from her.

"What? What is it?"

"You just... Look so cute like that..." he laughed, turning to face her again. "But it's time to be serious. Let's talk. You know that I like you. I gave you a pretty cool confession, didn't I?" he grinned. Honestly, the night that he did it, he thought that it was really uncool, but now that he was much more composed, he thought that he had been pretty smooth. "But now it's your turn. Maka, who do you like?"

Maka's mouth opened very slightly as her cheeks flushed. "I'm going to Maka Chop you," she mumbled.

"Why?" Soul pressed, taking her hand in his and moving closer to her. She instinctively wanted to stay there and just lean her head on his shoulder, but she forced herself to move away, pulling her hand away from him as she did so. Her actions only prompted the Weapon to move closer to her.

Once Maka couldn't move any further without falling off the couch, Soul asked again. "Who do you like?"

"I..." she squeezed her eyes shut, took a deep breath, then opened them again. Staring straight ahead, and as deadpan as she could, she replied to his question. "Soul Eater Evans."

For a few minutes, the duo was silent. Maka was the first to say something. Pushing herself off the sofa, she stiffly said, "Okay well now that that's done, I'm going to read my book again ha ha h-"

Soul grabbed her wrist, pulling her down again. "Sorry. It just took me a while to get that through my head. I thought that it was a dream," he teased her, his smile playful. He was really fighting hard to stay cool in the situation, but it was so _difficult_. How could he stay cool with Maka right in front of him, telling him that it was him, in fact, that she liked. And why did she have to look so adorable?

The pink in Maka's cheeks was fading, but she was avoiding making eye contact. Silence filled the room again. She took the opportunity to look over at Soul, but he was leaning back, face neutral and staring ahead. He certainly didn't look like he was going to say anything any time soon., but truthfully, he was racking his brain for something to say. When he wasn't drawing blanks, the conversation ideas that he thought of were completely unrelated and lame. _Blair makes a mean pumpkin pie, doesn't she? _ or _I wonder what Black Star and Tsubaki are up to... _were only a couple of examples. Very uncool.

While he was busy trying to think of something to say, Maka already knew what she wanted to ask. She just needed to word it in a not embarrassing way. She took a deep breath, then just asked. "So what are we?" Soul looked blankly at her, not comprehending what she was asking. "Y'know... Are we... More than friends now?" she squeaked.

No way was Soul going to directly answer that question. She was just so fun to tease. Besides, she could probably answer that question better than he could. For the both of them. "Do you want us to be?"

Growing flustered, Maka managed to sputter, "Well, I don't know... You like me and..."

"And _you_ like _me_," Soul finished for her. "So what do you think? I want whatever you want, and I'm pretty sure that we both know what that is."

Maka puffed out her cheeks. "... Oh, would you quit it? Just answer the question, Soul!"

"But I'm not sure that both of us will have the same answer."

"Oh, please. You just said that you want what I want."

_Damn. Well that backfired a bit._ After the slightest pause, Soul picked it up again. "So you admit it?"

"Admit what?" Maka frowned.

Soul grinned in response. "You admitted that you want what I want."

"MAKA CHOP!"

"Ow! What was that for?" Soul's brow furrowed, erasing his grin. He glared at her as he touched the spot on his head that the book made contact with.

"Yes! So just answer the question!"

She looked at her Weapon, exasperated that neither of them were answering such a simple question. He stayed silent for just a while longer, knowing that she would say something else. "Soul, I swear if yo-"

Her question was interrupted by Soul's lips pressing onto hers. Her eyes widened, but she didn't miss a beat in returning the kiss. She closed her eyes, kissing him back gently. She smiled against his lips just before they pulled apart.

"Does that answer your question?" Soul asked, reaching for the remote as if nothing out of the ordinary just happened.

Maka was filled with a happy feeling as she leaned back, nodding.

Soul flipped through the channels idly, before finally settling on something that neither of them were interested in. But that was fine. Neither of them were thinking about what show to watch anyways.

"So... We're a couple, right?" Maka asked again, just to make sure.

"Do I have to kiss you again?" Soul asked, not taking his eyes off of the TV screen. _Not that I would mind that..._ Unfortunately for him, Blair walked in before Maka could reply.

"Hey, you two! Work was slow today, so my boss said that I could just go home!" she piped. "I hope you don't mind, but Black Star and Tsubaki are here!"

Sure enough, the couple trailed in slowly after the cat. Tsubaki gave a shy smile, apologizing for dropping in uninvited, while Black Star went on about gracing them with his godly presence. Something like that. No one was really listening. But besides that, anyone that looked at them could see how different they were in personality, but it wasn't hard to see how much they cared for each other too. Especially Maka, who could see that their souls were closer than they were last time she saw them. She couldn't help but notice that they were holding hands, too. She placed her gaze on Soul's hand, but tore her eyes away quickly after.

"Hey guys," Soul greeted them casually, still unmoving from the couch. "What's up?"

"Nothing much! We just came by to see if you guys wanted to come join us. We're all playing ball," Black Star shrugged.

Without needing to consult his girlfriend, Soul shook his head. "No thanks. we would rather not, today."

"Well, okay. Suit yourself," he said. And with that, he and Tsubaki were out the door.

"You didn't even ask me! What if I wanted to hang out with everyone?" Maka muttered under her breath. Of course she didn't to, when they were going to be playing basketball, but she mostly wanted to know why he didn't ask her. She was also wondering why he said no. Normally, Soul was always up to play a bit of basketball.

The albino gave her a questioning look, then asked, "Do you want to go play? You could always chase after them." His suggestion was ignored by the girl, as she asked him why he didn't want to go shoot hoops with them. "I'd rather not. Not today. You didn't want to go, so I thought that I'd keep you company. Besides, we could do something more fun than hang out with everyone else. I'm sure that Blair will be leaving any time now, so we can do whatever." He wasn't thinking of anything malicious, but Maka seemed to think otherwise, because a book soon collided with his head.

He didn't even bother expressing his pain, but rather just clarified what he meant. "We could watch a movie. Just pick one out," he shrugged, as Blair left the house again, this time in her cat form.

"Are you sure...?" Maka asked him cautiously. "You're acting kind of weird..." she noted.

He chuckled. "Am I?"

"Yeah. Let's just... Go play basketball with them."

"Really? Well now it's you that's acting weird."

"... Let's just go. Besides, I wouldn't mind talking to the other girls," she said as she pushed herself off the couch. Soul stood up beside her, then pulled her head closer to him so that he could put a light kiss on the side of her head.

"Whatever you want."

* * *

**END**

Thank you guys all so much for sticking around until the end of this fic, and I will try to get the next chapter up as soon as I can.  
KEY WORD: TRY  
So if it takes another month... please forgive me /hides


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